African Collection

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05-01-09
12 Pieces from the Neuberger Museum of Art’s African Collection on display at Mt. Vernon Public Library
    The Neuberger Museum of Art’s African Art Collection is regarded as one of the premiere collections of African Art in the United States. Thanks to a partnership between ArtsWestchester, the Neuberger Museum of Art | Purchase College and the Mt. Vernon Public Library, twelve pieces from the Neuberger Museum of Art’s collection are currently on view at the library’s new Rotunda Gallery from April 30^th through June 14^th. The exhibition, titled “The Power of the Body,” is free and open to the public.
     An opening reception took place Thursday evening , April 30, and dozens of visitors attended to see the impressive collection.
     African art has been an integral part of the Neuberger Museum of Art since it opened in 1974. In 1999, the collection almost doubled in size with the major gift of 153 works from the collection of the late Lawrence Gussman, a notable collector and a resident of Scarsdale, New York.
     Lawrence Gussman’s interest in Africa began in 1957 when he met Dr. Albert Schweitzer at his hospital in Labaréné (Gabon). This first encounter sparked a friendship between them that endured until Schweitzer’s death in 1965.
     Also sharing Dr. Schweitzer’s strong belief in humanitarian aid, Gussman and his wife returned each year to work at Dr. Schweitzer’s hospital. They both went for over thirty years. It was in Gabon that Gussman’s fascination with the art of Central Africa began; yet despite his annual trips to Gabon, he collected only in Europe and the United States, primarily through auction houses, dealers, and other.
    Thus, the African collection at the Neuberger Museum of Art is strongest in the arts of central Africa. Major objects, however, span a broad geographic range from Mali to Mozambique, offering artistic insights into over thirty cultures.
     The Mount Vernon Public Library is located at 28 South First Avenue, Mt. Vernon, and is open Monday-Thursday, from 10 am to 8 pm, Fri-Sat from 9 am-5 pm, and Sunday 1-5 pm.

Library Director, Opal Lindsay (r) pictured with Marie Thenese Brincard, Curator of African collection at The Neuberger Museum.

(l to r) Legislator Lyndon Williams, Opal Lindsay and Karen Preuss

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